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Diamond Princess Kicks Off Record New Zealand Cruise Season

Auckland’sbiggest ever cruise season is now underway, with Princess Cruises’ megalinerDiamond Princess heading up a flotilla of ships sailing local waters over thecoming months. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The116,000-tonne, 2670-guest Diamond Princess arrived in the harbour city thismorning – the first of more than 30 different ships which will visit Aucklandbetween now and April 2016.

The mostfrequent cruise line visitor to New Zealand, Princess Cruises has six shipsscheduled to make more than 200 calls to local ports over the coming months –accounting for about one-third of all cruise ship visits. The majority of theships’ passengers will be Australian, with Princess Cruises carrying moreAustralians across the Tasman than all other cruise lines combined.

The visitingPrincess ships include newcomer Golden Princess which will make her maidenvisit to New Zealand this Saturday (October 10) when she berths in Auckland.

PrincessCruises Vice President Australia & New Zealand Stuart Allison saidPrincess’ ships visits would deliver close to $100 million to the New Zealandeconomy in passenger and crew spending, supplies and ports charges over thecoming months.

Mr Allisonsaid New Zealand continued to be a very popular destination for Australiancruisers, with almost 90,000 Australians cruising across the Tasman in 2014.

“New Zealandoffers a diverse range of ports, each featuring remarkable scenic beauty andmemorable experiences yet all positioned in relative proximity to each other,which is why it’s such a great cruise destination,” Mr Allison said.

New Zealandports now account for seven of Princess’ top 10 ports in the Australasian andPacific region, and five of the cruise line’s top 30 ports around the world,with one-third of the cruise line’s global 18-ship fleet visiting the countrythis summer.

Mr Allisonsaid Princess’ ships would call at 10 different New Zealand ports during theseason, from Bay of Islands in the north to Dunedin in the south. A newaddition for Princess this season is Gisborne, which will receive 10 calls fromPrincess ships.

Auckland isone of Princess’ most frequent ports of call, with 27 Princess visits scheduledfor the city this summer.

Mr Allisonsaid that in addition to being a great cruise destination, New Zealand was alsodeveloping as a nation of cruisers, with close to 70,000 Kiwis taking a holidayat sea last year.

“More andmore New Zealanders are recognising cruising as an easy and great value way totravel so we’re now responding to local demand and offering new opportunitiesfor New Zealanders to cruise direct from their doorstep on Princess’ ships,sailing to destinations from Australia to Tahiti, South America and beyond,” hesaid.

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